Because of the power-fearing drafters of the U.S. Constitution, the president's tools for influencing Congress are quite limited. Presidents have had to look beyond the formal powers of the office to push a legislative agenda. In Between the Branches, a book of unprecedented depth, Kenneth Collier traces the evolution of White House influence in Congress over nine adminstrations, from Eisenhower to Clinton. It will enlighten students of the presidency, Congress, and all those interested in American politics.

Ten years ago Lukio fled Kiryat-Yearim, where he'd been adopted by the Levite family who guarded the Ark of the Covenant. Feeling betrayed by everyone, he returned to his birthplace in Philistia to become a famous fighter. Now the champion of Ashdod, Lukio has achieved every goal with the help of his ruthless cousin. But just as he is set to claim the biggest prize of all, the daughter of the king, his past collides with his present in the form of Shoshana. After a heartbreaking end to her secret friendship with Lukio, Shoshana thought to never see the boy with the dual-colored eyes and the troubled soul again. But when she is captured in a Philistine raid and enslaved in Ashdod, she is surprised to find that the brutal fighter known as Demon-Eyes is Lukio himself. With explosive secrets and unbreakable vows standing between them, finding a way to freedom for both may cost them everything.

This extensively revised new edition offers a broad-ranging, systematic and sophisticated introduction contemplating the institutions and processes of government in the US set in a clear historical context.

Innovative Developments in Virtual and Physical Prototyping presents essential research in the area of Virtual and Rapid Prototyping. The volume contains reviewed papers presented at the 5th International Conference on Advanced Research in Virtual and Rapid Prototyping, hosted by the Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development of the Polyt

This two-volume set (CCIS 158 and CCIS 159) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Workshop on Computer Science for Environmental Engineering and EcoInformatics, CSEEE 2011, held in Kunming, China, in July 2011. The 150 revised full papers presented in both volumes were carefully reviewed and selected from a large number of submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on computational intelligence; computer simulation; computing practices and applications; ecoinformatics; image processing information retrieval; pattern recognition; wireless communication and mobile computing; artificial intelligence and pattern classification; computer networks and Web; computer software, data handling and applications; data communications; data mining; data processing and simulation; information systems; knowledge data engineering; multimedia applications.